Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Pick a peck of peppers?

Well, maybe not a whole peck.

But it's still a lot of peppers. My market basket was nearly full and I even left a lot on the plants still. I split them, seeded them and had enough for two 1 gallon freezer bags. Yippee- skippy! We'll have stuffed chilis in the middle of winter. There's nothing better than a taste of spicy, hot summer in January when the snow flies. But boy, oh, boy, then made me start to sweat just working on them. And, yes, I did remember to wear gloves. It only takes once taking our your contact lenses after forgetting to wear gloves when working with peppers to teach a valuable lesson. Trust me on that one.

I got an email from our local food co-op telling me about one of their classes coming up. I told J15 and she is really excited to go as well. They're having a class on "native Iowa healing herbs". Definitely one that interests me. It's on a Thursday night in September. When I went to check out their calendar, I also took a look at other classes and events coming up. A few years ago the co-op and the local food alliance started an event called "Field to Family" in support of local foods. There are lots of free events: tastings and cooking demonstrations at the Farmer's Market, children's activities, culminating with a pot luck at one of the local CSA farms. Last year, J15 and I attended an all day food preservation workshop as part of this event. This year, in addition to the herbal class, they are having a free seed saving workshop at their community garden where the participants will help collect seeds and get to take some home. I'll definitely have to go to that one. A Saturday afternoon and best of all- it's FREE!

6 comments:

I never thought about trying to take out or put in contacts with hot pepper fingers! Ouch! and double Ouch! The food Co-Ops do a lot in your area. I don't know if we have one around here...I suppose we do..? Might check and see. Did you keep your seeds for planting next year? Do you have to dry them out? ...debbie

I have to ask, how much is a peck? Thanks to peach picking, I've learned bushels and 1/2 bushels... not pecks yet though. Stuffed chilis, yum. The herb class sounds really interesting, and lucky you to have the Field to Family organization. Do you know how it got started in terms of support, etc.?

Debbie- I'll save seeds from some peppers that I let fully ripen on the plants.Green bean- Oh Yeah!! Thanks for stopping in.Mangochild- to my best knowledge, a peck is a 1/4 bushel, or equal to about 2 gallons. If you think of those paper produce bags that they sell apples in at the grocery store, I think those are about half a peck. Now, don't hold me to that but my Dad was into odd measurements and I learned that stuff as a child.As far as the Field to Family goes, I'm not sure how it got started but there have always been a lot of 'foodies' around here.Judy

Search This Blog

What I'm up to elsewhere

Facebook Badge

Current Weather

The keeper of the freezer

My name is Judy. I'm a working mom of three (two boys still at home and a daughter in college), married to a wonderful guy. I'm trying to find my way in the world. My dream is to become more self reliant and live lighter on the earth.
I grew up on an Iowa farm, where my parents still live. In 2009 we purchased a run down acreage and are struggling to make our dream a reality.
This is our adventure.
And I'm always looking for new adventures along the way.